NASW is pleased that the 2012 national practice conference Restoring Hope: The Power of Social Work was a success. Thank you to our 1,000 attendees and all speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, advertisers, and others who contributed to the event. We believe that the overall goal to inspire and inform social workers and support the belief that social work is the profession of hope was achieved.

Attendees, please note that the link to the conference evaluation will be sent to you soon. You must fill this out completely and then you will be provided with your continuing education and/or certificate of attendance. If you still need to purchase CE credits, contact hope@naswdc.org.

If you entered the hope essay contest, two winners (one professional social worker and one social work student) will be announced in August. Select essays will also be posted to this webpage.

Sponsor, Exhibit & Advertise

For more information, contact:

Do not miss this opportunity to reach 1,000 social workers in an assortment of practice areas and in various positions from administrators, supervisors, political advocates, and community organizers to social workers that provide direct services to social workers that work in private or group practice. Many of these social worker attendees have decision making and purchasing power whether for an organization or for their own business.

The 2012 NASW National Hope Conference provides a national platform for sponsors, exhibitors, and advertisers to establish a relationship, educate targeted audiences, and deliver value to an important consumer in society's workforce—social workers. Please find below information about sponsoring, exhibiting, and advertising so you can plan and develop your marketing strategy at our conference.

Conference Speakers

Please click on the name of an individual speaker below to learn more about them.

Agenda & Workshops

Preliminary Agenda

Agenda is subject to change as further planning is conducted

Sunday, July 22, 2012

9:00am

ConferenceRegistration Opens

12:00pm – 3:00pm

Optional Pre-Conference Workshops (3 CEs possible)

THE INTERFACE OF ETHICS AND THE LAWFrederic Reamer, PhD, Professor, School of Social Work, Rhode Island College
Social workers frequently encounter circumstances involving ethical and legal issues. In many instances, relevant ethical and legal standards complement each other; however, in some circumstances, ethical and legal standards conflict. This presentation will provide a comprehensive overview of the complex relationship between ethical and legal standards in social work. Dr. Reamer will present a conceptually-based typology of four types of relationships between legal and ethical standards and a decision-making framework designed to enhance social workers’ constructive management of difficult decisions involving ethical and legal standards.
Case examples will be included.

CULTURAL COMPETENCE AS A PRACTICE PERSPECTIVE FOR HOPE AND RESILIENCYKaren Bullock, PhD, LCSW, Associate Professor, North Carolina State University
This workshop explores the many challenges that social work practitioners face in their efforts to restore hope and resiliency across the lifespan. It provides a broad understanding of how culture and acculturation affect children, adults and elders of diverse backgrounds and lifestyles. Participants will discuss privilege and inclusivity, homophobia and heterosexism, professional ethics and responsibility. Strategies for assessing one’s own biases and prejudices will be reviewed. A cultural competence perspective will be presented to frame practice guidelines and recommendations.

HOW YOUR PRACTICE CAN SURVIVE AND THRIVE IN AN UNCERTAIN ECONOMYLynn Grodzki, LCSW, MCC, Private Practice Success
Whether you are a social worker in private practice, agency or non-profit setting – you may be feeling nervous about the future. The pressures of a difficult economy require that social workers rethink the way we approach the business of therapy, to use more creativity and resilience. This workshop will help participants build a bridge between a healing mindset to a business mindset, and will offer a plan that has helped thousands of therapists across the country, stay viable and proactive during the recession. Participants will learn to reconcile service with profit, enhance their flexibility and become more entrepreneurial as they set goals, shift belief systems, and take concrete steps to move forward. During the informational and interactive discussion, there will be time to connect with peers and find avenues of ongoing professional support.

MILITARY CULTURE 101Judith Dekle, ACSW, LCSW, Senior Program Analyst, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Military Community and Family PolicyMichael Brand, PhD, LCSW, Associate Professor, OU Physicians ExecuCare, Department
of Psychiatry and Behavioral Services, University of OklahomaRachel E. Foster, PhD, MAJ, USAF, BSC, Mental Health Flight Commander,
579th Medical Group,
Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling
This program will provide participants with a fact-based understanding of the military and a realistic view of the life of a military family. It will be led by social workers who have lived the military life themselves, both in and out of uniform, as members of the military and as military family members. Learning will occur by weaving didactic information into facilitated discussion, case presentations, and experiential activities. Delivery will be supported with multi-media (taped interviews with military members and military families and/or observations of the range of experiences afforded by life in the military) that will enhance the understanding of the richness and complexity of military culture.

TRAUMA BASED THERAPY FOR HELPING VICTIMS AND PERPETRATORSScott Hullinger, MSW, LCSW, MSHA, Chief Executive Officer, Two Rivers Behavioral Health System
This session will explore the basic components of trauma informed care, its components and its applicability with adolescents. The basics of utilizing a trauma informed approach with both victims of trauma and perpetrators of trauma will be explored. Also, the session will discuss the many myths of trauma victims and how those exposed to trauma situations can often become perpetrators of the same types of trauma. Further exploration of the reasons many youth engage in aggressive and abusive behaviors as well as the reason for gang affiliations and criminal behaviors will be covered. Using a trauma based treatment for perpetrators and those engaging in criminal behaviors allow insight that previously may have been overlooked within the population.

THE CRITICAL ROLE OF FAMILIES IN REDUCING RISK & PROMOTING WELL-BEING FORLGBT CHILDREN & YOUTHCaitlin Ryan, PhD, ACSW, Director, Family Acceptance Project, San Francisco State UniversityCompelling new research on LGBT young people and their families from the Family Acceptance Project at SF State University shows that families have a dramatic influence on their LGBT children’s health, mental health and well-being. This research shows that family acceptance promotes well-being and protects against risk, while family rejection is related to serious health and mental health concerns in adulthood, including depression, suicidal behavior, substance abuse and risk for HIV. This session will discuss key findings and the new evidence-based family support model that the Family Acceptance Project is developing to help ethnically and religiously diverse families support their LGBT children. Participants will learn about new resources, materials and a new approach to promoting the wellbeing and positive development of LGBT children and adolescents in the context of their families. This work has important implications for changing how LGBT youth are served across multiple domains and systems of care, including child welfare and services for out-of-home youth. The Center for American Progress calls the work of the Family Acceptance Project a “revolution in public policy for LGBT children and youth.”

Welcome and Opening RemarksJeane Anastas, PhD, LMSW
President , NASW
Professor, Silver School of Social Work, New York University

3:30pm – 4:00pm
(0.5 CE)

Opening AddressTony Keith, Spoken Word Poet
Tony Keith is a Washington, DC native and a self described “world traveled spoken word artist, cultural educator, and reader and writer of inclusion. Mr. Keith is a Student Success Specialist for the University of the District of Columbia. He has extensive experience coordinating programs on diversity, racism, sexism, feminism, and hip hop culture and most recently was a featured performer at the national Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration.

4:00pm – 6:00pm
(2 CEs)

Opening Plenary ILeadership and the Power of Social WorkSocial work is essential for a healthy and civil society, and social work leaders find innovative solutions and create leading edge programs to address some of society’s most challenging concerns. Social work is the helping profession and the profession of hope, and people choose social work to create a better world. For over 100 years people have been attracted to social work as a profession to provide hope for individuals, families and communities and today you can find social workers in every corner of American society including non-profit organizations, corporations, foundations, and the U.S. Congress. This session features social worker leaders who will provide their perspective and how their social work skills and expertise led them to become the professional leaders they are today and how all social workers can step up to lead at a time that they’ve never been needed more.

William Pollard, PhD, MSW
President, Medgar Evers College

Nancy A. Humphreys, DSW
Director, Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work, Professor of Policy Practice, University of Connecticut School of Social Work

Keynote Presentation Surviving Together: A Personal JourneyBob Woodruff, Anchor/Reporter, ABC NewsLee Woodruff, Journalist, Author, Contributor, CBS This MorningBob Woodruff, ABC Anchor/Reporter and survivor of an Iraqi roadside attack, is joined by his wife, Lee, for a compelling joint presentation in which they share their thoughts and feelings about the event that nearly cost Bob his life. Bob and Lee describe how the event tested them as a family and as a couple, and how their triumph over adversity taught them significant lessons about life: about persevering, about holding hope and faith in equal measures—even when the prognosis is bleak—and about the indomitable human spirit.

10:15am – 11:45am
(1.5 CEs)

Plenary Session IIBuilding Resiliency After Trauma

Increasingly, throughout the world people experience trauma and have experienced torture. This session will identify how hope is a critical component to help people be resilient after trauma and how social workers can help clients overcome these experiences. The experienced panelists will describe their work with survivors of torture and trauma, and how they incorporate hope and resiliency into their work on a daily basis. They will highlight work with refugees seeking asylum, the perspective of aging holocaust survivors, and how a developing nation works to address devastating poverty. In addition to their efforts to help clients overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, they will also focus on how they remain hopeful in the face of society¹s most intractable problems.

S. Megan Berthold, PhD, LCSW, CTS
Assistant Professor of Casework, University of Connecticut, School of Social Work

Ellen Minotti, MSW
Director, Social Services of Cambodia

Roberta Greene, PhD, MSW
Professor and The Louis and Ann Wolens Centennial Chair in Gerontology and Social Welfare, School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin

11:45am – 1:30pm

Lunch (On Your Own)

1:30pm – 2:30pm
(1 CE)

Keynote PresentationNew Understandings of Grief and Implications for Practice
This presentation explores the most current theoretical perspectives on loss and grief, emphasizing six areas where understandings of grief have been challenged and developed, particularly focusing on the ways that emerging concepts such as disenfranchised grief and continuing bonds as well as new theories of grief affect social work practice.

Ken Doka, PhD, MA, MDivProfessor of Gerontology, The College of New Rochelle

Ms. Gbowee will discuss her own personal experiences as a trained social worker and trauma counselor working with ex-soldiers and victims of gender based violence. This experience crystallized the critical role women have to play in the peace process. As head to the Liberian Reconciliation Initiative, Ms.Gbowee uses her experience in social work to lead a bottom-up culturally-specific approach to ongoing challenges to lasting reconciliation. In her new work as founder and president of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, Ms. Gbowee works to increase educational and leadership opportunities for west African girls, women and youth. The Foundation envisions a peaceful and reconciled Africa that recognizes and utilizes the skills and talents of all, regardless of gender and ethnicity.

5:00pm – 6:30pm
(1.5 CE)

Poster Presentations in the Exhibit AreaRefreshments

7:00pm
(2 CEs)

Social Work Film Festival

What Love is: Pathfinders Ted Bogosian

King’s Park
Lucy Winer

From Place to Place
Matt Anderson

Tuesday July 24, 2012 (7.5 Total CEs for the Day)

7:00am – 6:00pm

Information Center Opens

7:30am – 8:30am

Continental Breakfast

8:30am – 9:30am
(1 CE)

Keynote Presentation
Roberto (Betho) Pacheco, AfroReggae Cultural Group, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Betho Pacheco is the Special Projects Coordinator at AfroReggae Cultural Group, an NGO with a focus on social and cultural activities to prevent
young people from being involved with drug trafficking and violence. AfroReggae uses art to replace violence, and "cultural weapons" to bring
about change. Students can learn dance, theatre, percussion, or how to be a deejay. Their goal is to help young men who have already been in
trouble with the law or have been in prison to re-enter society. They have helped 1,500 young men during the program's existence and report
a 60 percent success rate. This model has been adapted by other states in Brazil.

9:30am – 11:00am
(1.5 CEs)

Plenary Session IIIHOPE for our Children
Social workers are an important voice for our nation's children, working to prevent maltreatment, support and strengthen families, and promote well-being. During this time of fiscal constraint and competing policy priorities, social work efforts on behalf of children and youth are more important than ever. Based on their professional experiences, panelists will provide perspectives on their main hope for today's children and youth, and how we, as a profession, can make that hope a reality.

William Bell, PhD, MSW
President and Chief Executive Officer, Casey Family Programs

Sheryl Brissett-Chapman, EdD, ACSW, LICSWExecutive Director, National Center for Children and Families

11:15am – 12:15pm
(1 CE)

Concurrent Breakout Sessions II

12:15pm – 1:30pm

Lunch (On Your Own)

1:30pm – 3:00pm
(1.5 CEs)

Plenary Session IVBuilding HOPE with Honor for Veterans and Military Families
With over 2.3 million veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are significant opportunities and challenges facing our nation's Service members, veterans, and their loved ones. Professional social workers are uniquely equipped to address many of their needs. This session will focus on the strengths of our Service members, and opportunities for social workers to work with them. This assistance may be in the form of uniformed or civilian service, through veteran service organizations, or through advocacy and direct social work practice in numerous fields. All social workers must have some understanding of the challenges faced by members of the military, veterans, and their loved ones, and should provide them with the support that they have earned.

Anthony Hassan, EdD, MSW
Clinical Associate Professor and Director, USC Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans and Military Families, University of Southern California

Carol Sheets, LICSW, ACSW
National Director of Social Work, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Nearly 30 years ago, The Capitol Steps began as a group of Senate staffers who set out to satirize the very people and places that employed them. Most cast members have worked on Capitol Hill; some for Democrats, some for Republicans, and others for politicians who firmly straddle the fence. No matter who holds office, there's never a shortage of material.

Wednesday July 25, 2012 (3.75 Total CEs for the Day)

7:00am – 3:00pm

Information Center Opens

7:30am – 8:30am

Continental Breakfast

8:45am – 10:15am
(1.5 CEs)

Plenary Session VSocial Work Is the Profession of HOPE
Some social workers chose this profession because they were influenced by a profound experience or a significant challenge in their lives. Perhaps they were inspired to help others because they successfully overcame adversity or were assisted by a professional social worker along the way. This session will focus on individuals who have overcome obstacles in their own lives and have gone on to help others to do the same.

Keynote Presentation Political Outlook: A Comprehensive Picture of What’s Going on in WashingtonDonna Brazile, Veteran Political Strategist; Analyst, CNN and Contributor, ABCNews
Always candid and insightful, Donna Brazile brings a refreshing perspective and practical sensibility to the Obama Administration, Congress and the 2012 elections. Her presentations provide a comprehensive picture of what’s going on in Washington—from analysis of the current political environment to hot-topic legislation to the 2012 election campaigns and voting issues. Named by Washingtonian as one of the “100 most powerful women,” Brazile draws on her insider knowledge to provide audiences with the latest developments of an ever-shifting political landscape, the critical issues of the 2012 elections and what their impact means for our future.

THE HOPE FOR EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE IN AN OUTCOME DRIVEN WORLD
Joan Levy Zlotnik, PhD, ACSW, Director, Social Work Policy Institute, NASW Foundation Denise Juliano-Bult, MSW, Chief, Systems Research and Disparities in Mental Health Services Research Programs,
National Institute of Mental Health
This workshop will further understanding of evidence-based practice as a process and provide tools for finding, assessing, adapting, implementing and evaluating evidence-based practices that foster hope and resiliency. Different models that are being used in agencies and universities will be explored and strategies for strengthening practice/research linkages to support social work efficacy will be addressed.

STRATEGIES FOR PROFESSIONAL RESILIENCE AND SELF CARE ACROSS YOUR CAREER
Katherine Walsh, PhD, MSW, LICSW, Associate Professor, Westfield State University
Fostering and sustaining professional resilience is essential for social workers who are routinely exposed to trauma and loss. This workshop will prepare participants to identify, select and maximize use of self-care strategies, as well as identify and contribute to resilient workplaces in their roles of practitioners, supervisors and administrators.

RISK MANAGEMENT AND ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
James H. Townsend, MHA, MSSW, ACSW, President and CEO, TGC, Inc.
This session, developed especially for social workers, is sponsored by the NASW Assurance Services (ASI) and describes the most significant malpractice risks in social work today and numerous methods of mitigating and reducing one’s risk of being sued for malpractice. The presentation is intended for social workers in all settings and positions, not just the clinical, therapeutic mental health setting. The session will cover key concepts in risk management, such as confidentiality and its exceptions, duty to warn, and informed consent. The seminar will reveal the major reasons why social workers are sued and what you can do about those risks. We will define what constitutes a malpractice case and emphasize important recordkeeping issues, guidelines for supervision, special tips for clinical and private practitioners, and brief you about your malpractice insurance, its special features and implications for your practice.

LEADERSHIP AS THE CATALYST FOR HOPE
Tracy Whitaker, DSW, ACSW, Director, Center for Workforce Studies and Social Work Practice
Gary Bailey, MSW, ACSW, Professor of Practice, Simmons College
Organizations in the public and private sectors face daunting challenges. Leaders of these organizations are tasked with securing funding and controlling costs while simultaneously expanding their markets, developing new programs and recruiting and retaining staff. Participants in this workshop will explore strategies that enable leaders to keep their "eyes on the prize," motivate those around them to excel, and generate enthusiasm and support from community stakeholders.

PROMOTING RESILIENCE THROUGH A LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE OF WORKING WITH
PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIESSusan L. Parish, PhD, MSW, Director, Lurie Institute for Disability Practice, Heller School for
Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University
This workshop will provide an overview of best practices in working effectively with parents who are primary caregivers of children
and adults with developmental disabilities. This workshop takes a life-course perspective, and addresses the needs of parents of
pre-schoolers, school-aged children, young adults and older adults. Hands-on, group activities will provide participants with
opportunities for devising intervention strategies.

While hope is a common theme in every field of practice, it is complex and often misunderstood. Hope is not denial, optimism, or simply wishing. True hope is based in reality. It is not passive in nature and does not only take positive factors into account. Hope is a prerequisite for action, and Social Workers know that hopeless people often become helpless people. Social Workers help clients refocus and restore hope, and this conference will explore the numerous ways that participants can incorporate the concept into their work and their lives.

While hope is a common theme in every field of practice, it is complex and often misunderstood. Hope is not denial, optimism, or simply wishing. True hope is based in reality. It is not passive in nature and does not only take positive factors into account. Hope is a prerequisite for action, and Social Workers know that hopeless people often become helpless people. Social Workers help clients refocus and restore hope, and this conference will explore the numerous ways that participants can incorporate the concept into their work and their lives.